... the rest of the time they prefer to be situated at higher elevations.

These are my main pets. Longest tail so far has been 6.5 Ft, but he broke off 32" of it before I got him put up so he couldn't hurt himself. They can bleed very bad if they get their tail caught on something because there is blood in the quills. They need special housing to protect them from harm and keep the tails growing.

Six new babies hatched yesterday from the male directly below (who grew 6.5 Ft in two years). And also, 7 other chicks of another breed called Tomaru.

I've been raising them for about 6 years. Have been learning from my best friend here in the US and also from very helpful, knowledgeable, and extremely kind Japanese pen pal friends for almost 5 years now. That has only been made possible by the generosity of an incredibly gifted bilingual friend.

Note: My birds are not pure Onagadori, but I'm working towards that goal.

Lots of specialty things go into those birds. They look all chicken, but they're much more complicated.... and a good knowledge of their genetics is a must. Eleven copies of three genes control the tail and saddle feathering alone and they all have to work together. I don't have them all in place yet, but I'm getting there.

The first one, Susumu, turns 3 yrs old on the 21st of this month. The white cockerels are his sons at 4.5 months and the white hen is his sister of the same age as him.

My line is made of a couple family lines and 1/2 siblings with lots of new blood each side, but my "genetic Eve" as it were is a recessive white hen. So I get those popping up along side my ducking colors. One of the six new chicks is a white.

The fourth pic down is his nephew, Soumei, at 6 months.

The photo below that is Musuko, the white cockerels' uncle. He was used for breeding and though he went 2.5 yrs without molt, the feather growth was stunted by hormones. The tail would have been much longer if he'd not bred during that time.

After about 6 moths, if the feathers are still growing (and they usually do for at least a couple years), they must be placed in narrow upright cages with high perches (like in the pics) and walked and exercised daily with supervision by their handler. It seems cruel to most people when they find that out how they are kept, but it would actually be quite cruel to leave them run freely.

Damaging their tails would be the least of such a bird's worries if it were running loose. Those quills contain blood and if they get pulled or broken closer to the body, the birds can bleed quite a bit. The quills are about the size of a drinking straw on mature birds. They can get the feathers caught on anything from a tiny splinter on a perch, a narrow crack in a joint that isn't tight in their housing, under a water or food dish if they wrap around it, even get pulled from another bird stepping on it.

A good friend of mine, and fellow breeder, tried keeping one in a cage that was too large and with the wrong shaped perch. The poor rooster got his tail caught trying to get to a hen he could see (another no no, hens are kept out of sight).

Almost every feather was pulled out. He was bleeding quite a lot when she found him. Took her a long while to stop the bleeding even with a clotting agent. Then she had to clean up the blood that was spattered all over the pen. He's doing ok now, but a bird that remains in a state of blood-feather for such a long time is a fragile creature indeed.

She meant well by giving him more space and felt bad about the outcome, but these are one kind of pet that everything involved in their keeping must be followed to the letter. Such a simple thing as a goof up in housing size could spell disaster.Bye for now,

Hi there.Seen your post about your chooks.I have a yokohama black breasted red pheonix pure bred and he is 10 months old and needs some ladies to get friendly with.He also has beautiful long tail but am struggling to find some hens.Can you help ??i live in leicestershire.caroline.xxx

Great to meet another long-tail chicken fancier! If you live within the contiguous 48 I can help you out. I can't ship outside of the 48 due to agriculture laws.

My non-molters are probably a bit more than you want. Too many special housing, temperature, and dietary requirements. But when my Phoenix lay again, you're welcome to some eggs.

Or, I do have an extra gold duckwing hen if you live near IN? Gold DW is very close to BBR and would make more BBR for you. Maybe a few golds.

Here is a 10 month pic of a young male I have coming along from my non-molters. He'll turn 11 mo next week and is still in blood-feather.

Bye for now,

David

*Edit* I just noticed that you're in Leicestershire... England? I can't ship over seas (or even to Hawaii for that matter... yeah, one of our own states, isn't that crazy?), but I have a friend who lives on Man. I bet she may be able to help. Send me your e-mail and I'll contact her about it.